28-year-old star leaving AEW; to become a free agent immediately - Reports

Several AEW stars have recently left the promotion. Now, another talent is also reportedly set to leave the Jacksonville-based company. Leyla Hirsch made her in-ring AEW debut in 2020 and quickly garnered attention for her in-ring skills. She signed a deal with the company in March 2021.

However, she was sparingly used on Dynamite and spent the last year competing mainly on ROH and Collision. The 28-year-old competed in the biggest match of her career last December at ROH Final Battle, where she battled Red Velvet for the ROH Women's World Television Title. This was her last match for Ring of Honor.

PWInsider has reported that Leyla Hirsch's contract with Tony Khan's promotion will expire tomorrow. She is reportedly set to not renew her deal and will become a free agent immediately.

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Ricky Saints (FKA Ricky Starks) also left AEW recently

While Leyla Hirsch competed on ROH TV and Collision frequently, the same cannot be said about the erstwhile Ricky Starks. The former FTW Champion was not seen on AEW TV since March of 2024, raising a lot of eyebrows given his in-ring and mic skills.

There were rumors last year that he was set to leave the promotion, but The Absolute One denied them at the time. Towards the end of 2024, Ricky started taking bookings outside the promotion, again fueling speculation that he would eventually leave AEW. However, nothing was confirmed.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Saints was no longer with the Jacksonville-based company. Shortly after these reports broke, Stroke Daddy showed up on NXT and addressed the WWE Universe. On the February 18 edition of NXT, he officially signed the contract and was rebranded as Ricky Saints.

This week, the 35-year-old competed in his first WWE match when he teamed up with Je'Von Evans to face the team of Ethan Page and Wes Lee.

It will be interesting to see if Ricky Saints reaches his full potential in WWE.